Nas May Earn Over $40 Million From The Sale Of A Company He Funded

Nas is regarded as one of Hip-Hop’s shining examples of poetry and advanced rhyme skills. His debut album, Illmatic, was voted by Ambrosia For Heads readers in 2016 as “The Greatest Rap Album Of All Time.” That release has been the subject of at least one documentary film. It also spawned a career that has flourished with several other acclaimed songs and albums.

Compared to peers such as JAY-Z, Puff Daddy, and 50 Cent, Nas has long positioned himself more as artist than businessman. In the ’90s and 2000s, Nas signed to other record labels as peers built their own imprints. Jones modeled for other fashion brands, while his contemporaries launched their own lines. In photos and music videos, Nas toasted to “the good life” while some of his friends began owning the wine and spirits inside the glass.

Now at 44 years old, Nas is showing his business acumen, and making up for—what may seem to some—like lost time. In 2014, he co-founded the equity firm, QueensBridge Venture Partners. The MC from the housing projects of the same name has built a portfolio that includes stakes in Lyft, Dropbox, Mass Appeal (and its record label of the same name), Genius, and the restaurant chain, Sweet Chick. In a 2016 profile, Nas’ manager and VC partner Anthony Saleh who shared that “[QueensBridge Venture Partners] typically invests between $100,000 to $500,000 in a start-up, and helps fund about 20 companies a year.”

One of those investments is reportedly on the cusp of a billion-dollar sale to Amazon. Ring is a company that appeared on Shark Tank. Daymond John, Mark Cuban, and the other “sharks” ultimately passed on the video surveillance doorbell company. Nas and his firm struck a deal after the episode aired.

According to Black Enterprise, Amazon is finalizing a deal to purchase Ring for $1.1 billion. The publication estimates that Nas stands to make “more than $40 million” from that deal’s terms. While Amazon told Black Enterprise the deal was not finalized, the doorbell company’s team shared an email: “Ring is committed to our mission to reduce crime in neighborhoods by providing effective yet affordable home security tools to our neighbors that make a positive impact on our homes, our communities, and the world. We’ll be able to achieve even more by partnering with an inventive, customer-centric company like Amazon. We look forward to being a part of the Amazon team as we work toward our vision for safer neighborhoods.”

Nas, who appeared at a Mass Appeal film screening last night for documentary film Rapture, has not spoken publicly about the acquisition.